Reconciled in Christ, Down to the Last Drop

by 11/17/2007 / Christian Living

Christ is pointing us toward a spiritual goal that hits much closer to home than we might expect. He is guiding all willing followers toward a heavenly quality of reconciliation. Much to the dismay of our flesh, this reconciliation is extremely thorough.

God answers all our prayers in some way or another. In particular, for those who dare to listen, He is continually revealing all the mysteries of His life-consuming grace.

There are some who see fit to pray for signs and miraculous wonders, who sincerely desire God in their midst. Others, when they do pray, do so predominantly for people's eternal salvation, especially for their loved ones. This is all obedient prayer. However God's plans are still more far-reaching than we can imagine.

Christ's goal in coming to earth is to purify a people who are His to the last drop. He purchased us in our entirety; He will not settle for anything less than every last detail of our existence. He obtained that right once and for all by dying in our place as a shameful criminal even though He Himself was blameless. Therefore, if we call ourselves "Christ's," if we would like to approach Him as if we know Him, then we'll have to learn that He desires every part of us... the whole package.

Most people are at least suspicious that God expects more from His people than isolated prayers or brief surges of religious action. If we are seeking Christ, it must eventually become impossible for us to repeat other people's nice-sounding prayers, say "Amen," and leave it at that.

And we will get all of Him when He gets all of us.

Prayerful fellowship with Christ affects a person's everyday quality of life, from soul, to heart, to mind, to action. If we want to fellowship with Christ, our motivation for approaching Him must line up with our motivations in general. What drives us to seek Christ is not separate from our drive to do anything else.

We religious folk would like to think that we can compartmentalize our existence. We would like to think that we can "go to church" and then "come home from church." But God designed us so that the quality of our lives would reflect the quality of our true hearts.

This also means, whether our activities emphasize the soul, the body or the mind, we are continually all of these things. Our soul, body and mind are all part of the same package no matter what time of day it is, where we are or what we are doing. If we are thoroughly Christ's, then every aspect of our lives should be saturated with the joy of knowing Him.

by Patrick Roberts. Find his book and additional material at www.BooksByPatrick.com

Patrick is an average Christ-seeker. His goal is to turn people to Jesus Christ.